After HC orders, Shimla cops get cracking

SHIMLA : The high court’s intervention in safety of school children during transportation might come as a saviour to Shimla school students who have allegedly been facing the sloppiness of administration.

The transporters and schools have been asked not to overload their vehicles while transporting school children to schools.

The Shimla police have issued an advisory to all stakeholders and asked taxi drivers to wear a uniform and keep their names on display.

They have also been asked to keep a first-aid box in the vehicle and keep updating the medicines in it. Schools have been directed to put up grilles in windows of the buses besides the presence of an attendant in each bus.

Shimla has over a dozen private school, where hundreds of children come daily by school transport. Majority of the children, especially of junior classes, used to go to schools in private cabs pooled by parents. These cab owners charge exorbitantly and to avoid the hefty rates, parents agree to stuff children in small vehicles meant for five to seven passengers. An Omini van in Shimla normally carries 10 children. In some such vehicles, parents also accompany the kids to schools.

The high court intervention came as the court is hearing a petition filed by one Nitin Vyas who has requested the court to look into the safety of schoolchildren being ferried in overloaded cabs to schools. The petitioner submitted that cab drivers in Shimla violate all safety norms laid down by the Supreme Court. The high court has already issued directions to the DC regarding this.